D'Antoni fumes as Lakers blow 18-point lead

March 22, 2013

Updated Aug. 21, 2013 1:17 p.m.

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Lakers guard Kobe Bryant walks off the court with center Dwight Howard, left, and guard Jodie Meeks, right, during the final seconds of their 103-100 loss to the Washington Wizards on Friday. MARK J. TERRILL, AP

Lakers guard Kobe Bryant walks off the court with center Dwight Howard, left, and guard Jodie Meeks, right, during the final seconds of their 103-100 loss to the Washington Wizards on Friday. MARK J. TERRILL, AP

LOS ANGELES – Just when it looked like the Lakers were getting healthy, unselfish and serious ...

Antawn Jamison sprained his right wrist late in the third quarter as the Washington Wizards were racing past the still-slow Lakers, who deteriorated into Kobe Bryant isolation ball down the stretch in a stunning 103-100 loss Friday night at Staples Center.

Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni's frustration spilled over in a postgame rant that referenced the Lakers breaking huddles with the word "championship" in unison.

The Lakers blew an 18-point lead against the Wizards, who were 6-26 on the road coming in and missing starting center Emeka Okafor (flu). But Wizards speedy point guard John Wall gave a preview of what could await the Lakers in a possible first-round playoff series against Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook, San Antonio's Tony Parker or Denver's Ty Lawson by rushing the ball into a backpedaling Lakers defense and establishing which team had the truer aggression.

Wall had 24 points and 16 assists, and his efforts held up with Bryant missing would-be tying shots from the open elbow with 5.9 seconds left and from a difficult 3-point circumstance at the buzzer. After a two-game layoff to heal a sprained left ankle, Bryant looked fatigued – and surely not from defensive diligence – but kept firing away late in the game.

Trevor Ariza, whom Bryant gave his summer shooting program to help the Lakers en route to their 2009 NBA title, had a dynamic second half – often against Bryant. Ariza had 25 points and hit a career-high seven 3-pointers; Bryant had 21 points on 8-of-18 shooting with 11 assists.

About Ariza's open looks, D'Antoni said it was "inexcusable ... lapses, gambling or 'I'm not gonna play hard tonight.'"

Pau Gasol played for the first time since Feb. 5, when he tore the plantar fascia in his right foot, and had four points on 2-of-10 shooting in 21 minutes. He didn't play during most of the second-half collapse, which D'Antoni summed up this way: "Every time we get up 16, (we say): 'Well, we're really good and we don't have to play hard.'"

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